Apparently, this is a major victory of the patent system. This, this right here, this is what the patent system has come to. This is the destructive effect it's having on this once beautiful industry. Thanks to trolls like Apple and Microsoft, basic, elemental functionality is being removed from devices people already own.

Don't know about the others but the patents Nokia sued over were non-trivial hardware patents, not slide-to-unlock style software patents.

"Slide to unlock" is not trivial. It's a look-and-feel user interface feature that that is as unique to Apple (or was until Samsung infringed Apple's patent) as the thumbs-up "You like this." button is to Facebook.

You want to see Apple emasculated -- for other manufacturers to be free to implement all of the "trivial" patented software features that, taken together, result in a superior user experience, until Apple no longer holds a competitive advantage.

I'd have no problem if Apple developed this kind of tech and others infringed upon it, but the stuff Apple is suing over is utter BS in most cases.

Android's infringing "Quick Search Box" feature was touted by Google as a "core user feature on Android." How can something be both "trivial" and a "core user feature"? If it's so "trivial," why is its removal considered a "downgrade" of the entire device?

The highly valued unified search feature of Siri contributes greatly to consumer demand for Apple's iPhone 4S. So now you want Samsung, a foreign competitor, to be able to incorporate that patented, sales-driving feature, into it's competing product. Why? What's your legal rationale as to why Samsung should be able to take sales away from Apple by infringing on Apple's own patents?